So, this is only to some degree Microsoft's fault, but yesterday, we were basically on a workshop at $DAYJOB to learn about a hardware setup, which had some crucial software on a Windows PC.
And because you can't run updates in the background on Windows, the internal IT has a nagware program to remind you, that you should stop working and install an update.

And like, truly nagware. It pops up in the middle of the screen, overlays all other windows, but also minimizes them, and the only way to close it, is to either go ahead with the installation or to click "Defer", which makes it ask again in 5 minutes.
It then also unminimizes your windows, but does so in the wrong order, so a different window will end up on top.

But what truly made this a unique experience was that there were like 8 updates it tried to install. Each of those updates had its own nagware pop-up with its own 5-minute-timer, so we get one of those ridiculous pop-ups every 30-45 seconds.

Eventually, we did realize that it was different updates it was trying to do (and not just a BIOS update which had failed twice already), so we could make it go ahead with the installation of some of those updates, which reduced the nagware pop-up frequency somewhat.

But yeah, for innocent me with my Linux laptop, this was still absolute bedlam. Just genuinely a moment of "How the hell do you get any work done?".

I don't mind that it just forces updates. I think for the vast majority of users that's the right call, otherwise they just won't update shit and blame everyone but themselves for when they get viruses and whatnot. Same really for Linux if it becomes popular enough with people who really don't know about tech.

If I was using Windows I'd want to turn that feature off ofc.

I think this is the other way around, Windows Updates always fuck up the user.

Space Force Meme

Nah. Windows is stalkerware digital slavery of the soul. It comes back with shackles. The future will make this far more clearly the case.

I just had windows update almost brick an iPad. I have this old iPad I use to watch movies or shows while working out. I almost never update it it just sits on my network to connect to jellyfin. Well it wasn't playing some shows and it looks like I needed to update its codec and stuff but it refused to do it from the iPad guess if you let it sit to long or something. So I boot up my old windows 10 PC that maybe gets turned on once a year for shit like this. Sit through like 4 hours of updates and 4-5 restarts I can finally install iTunes to update the iPad. As its updating the iPad windows just goes fuck you and does a update and restarts itself. I look at the iPad it spazzes a bit then comes up with this recovery error please contact support... Fuck get back into windows try updating the iPad again says it won't update and that I must wipe and recover it. Fuck. Recovering the iPad worked but it wiped everything from it then had to spend the next hour trying to remember my apple password the last time I used it was like 5 years ago. In other words fuck windows. I hate apple too, the iPad was a gift. It works for what I use it for.

Lmao winblows I'm gonna remember that moving forward. I think I'll be getting a lot of use out of it 😄

I just installed Bazzite because my rig has been used for Steam 90% of the time and Firefox the other 10%.

Now I laugh when it tells me where the steam deck buttons are supposed to be, reminding me to choose the non-deck version next time.

But the 'HAY LISTEN' of Windows 10 dying and being forced to use Windows 11 at work was enough.

Linux distros can still do...questionable things. In grad school I tried Arch for a bit, and I once was late to a video call because I had updated my kernel but did not reboot. Arch decided that because there was a new kernel installed, I didn't need the modules for the old

but currently running!

kernel, so it removed them. So when I plugged in a webcam, the webcam module was nowhere to be found.

But yeah...somehow, still not as bad as Windows updates.

That's why I always keep the machine offline when I'm setting up, then turn off or disable the Windows Update service first. Then I use the router and the HOSTS file to block every part of Micro$oft.

My partner is a little bit technopobic and adopted to Linux 4 years ago. Mint originally as a gentle step and now on Debian KDE. They needed initial set up doing for them eg localisation for Libreoffice. Updates etc are really no different to Windows so they dont need to worry about using the terminal. The challenge for most non-tecchy people will be having someone to hold thier hand with trying and moving to Linux.

where linusx